Dan
Gable
Olympian 1972
1
GOLD
0
SILVER
0
BRONZE
Athlete Bio#
Age
76
Hometown
Waterloo, IA
Quick Facts
- Son of Katie and Mack Gable
- Had one older sister, Diane
- Compiled 181-1 record through high school and college with only loss to Larry Owings in the final match of the 1970 NCAA tournament
- Defeated several Soviet wrestlers at international meets, leading the Soviet national coach to vow that “before the Olympics, we will find someone who can beat Gable”
- The first American to win a world and Olympic title in consecutive years
- Served as the U.S. Olympic freestyle coach in 1980, 1984 and 2000
- Husband to wife Kathy
- Father to four daughters, Jenni, Molly, Annie and Mackenzie.
Olympic Experience
- 1-time Olympian; 1-time Olympic medalist (1 gold)
- Olympic Games Munich 1972, gold (66kg - Men)
World Championships Experience
- Most recent: 1971 – gold (66kg - Men)
- Years of participation: 66kg - Men 1971
- Medals: 1 (1 gold)
- Gold – 1971 (66kg - Men)
Hall Of Fame Bio #
Dan Gable is a two-time NCAA national champion, a world gold medalist and an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. Growing up in Waterloo, Iowa, Gable compiled a 181-1 record throughout his high school and collegiate wrestling career. He attended Iowa State University and won two NCAA national championships, and was a three-time All-American and Big Eight champion. His dominance extended to Olympic competition, when at the Olympic Games Munich 1972, he won all six of his matches without giving up a point en route to the gold medal. Gable joined the Wrestling coaching staff at the University of Iowa in 1972, and became the university’s all-time winningest coach from 1976-97. He compiled a career record of 355-21-5 as the University of Iowa’s head Wrestling coach, and won 15 NCAA national Wrestling team championships. Gable has been named to the USA Wrestling Hall of Fame and is only the third wrestler to be inducted into the United World Wrestling Hall of Fame in the Legend category. He also served on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports in 2002.
